Chapter Text
Grunk tapped his feet against the floor, waiting for his mom to pick up the phone. The afternoon sun streamed through the windows as his mom finally picked up.
“Hello? Grunk? Are you ok?”
“Hey mom, um, about that…”
“What?! Did you get hurt?!”
“...”
“Grunk…”
“I did but hold on-”
“I knew it! Grunk didn’t I tell you other monsters were going to hurt you? You have to book a flight before they-”
“MOM! Sorry! Sorry. Mom, please listen, they didn’t hurt me. It was some other harpy. They broke my wing and I won’t be able to make it past airport security with a faulty wing.”
“If you have to stay longer I’m ok with it... are you sure they won’t sell you out? Grunk, please.”
“Mom, I’m going to be fine, I’ll make sure of it.”
“... You already know how we feel about them…”
“I know Mom, I know. I’ll be careful.”
“If anyone tries to hurt you, I’ll-”
“Thanks Mom but I’ll be fine. Talk to you later, Mom.”
“....Ok, ok, love you.”
“Love you too.”
She clicked off of the call, leaving Grunk in silence. He sighed, a weight being lifted off of his chest as he set down the phone. His parents' warning about monsters was always put off until now, now he felt as if he couldn’t trust anyone in the house.
Could he? I mean his parents couldn’t, that doesn’t mean he could, right? … Maybe he’ll take more precautions. Just a few days.
***POV change - Isaac***
Isaac frowned as almost everyone gathered in the kitchen, key word almost. Nick was shuffling through the fridge as Tanner and Larry were giggling to themselves about who knows what while Yumi was on his phone on the couch. Everyone was there except Grunk.
He’d been more avoidant the past few days, always in the spare room, jumpy around everyone when he was out during the day, and he was always watching the front door like a SWAT team was going to bust it down. It seemed like his wing was healing pretty well compared to his arm, which was still pretty rough.
“Isaac, you home?” Nick chuckled, a tinge of worry laced his tone. “You’ve been staring into space for a while now.”
“Oh, sorry, just thinking,” he replied, looking toward the second floor.
“Oh, he’s been acting weird lately, hasn’t he?” Nick commented, nodding toward the second floor. Isaac nodded as he caught the water bottle Nick threw. “It’s unsettling.”
“Yeah, every time I pick up my phone he just… stares at me,” Tanner chimed in. “He looked scared.”
The group fell into silence, the ceiling fan wiring in the background as the quiet stretched on. Isaac tapped a webbed finger against the bottle before setting it down.
“We should drag him out of his room,” Nick announced jokingly before seriously adding. “We should get him out though, any ideas?”
“I think we should leave him be,” Yumi advised from the couch. “His arm’s still healing, he’ll be fine.”
The group looked at each other before resigning and taking their places on the couch. Yumi turned on an episode of Spongebob and let it playthrough for a while. It was around evening when Isaac heard the spare room’s door open and the tap of talons against the stairs.
He turned to see Grunk stare at the group like he’d been caught. The harpy’s wings were puffed as he walked to the island in the kitchen, watching the group from behind. Isaac felt the kids eyes burning the back of his head as he focused on the TV. He felt this for a few more seconds before he heard footsteps go by. Grunk was about to head up the stairs before Yumi spoke up.
“Hey G,” Yumi greeted. “There’s a spot on the couch if you want.”
Larry perked up as he noticed the kid staring at the free spot, shuffling toward them. He stopped at the side of the couch, looking at the group before attempting to find a place on the couch.
He shuffled around, binding his wings close as he found a comfortable position. Isaac noticed Grunk staring at the door, feathered tail twitching in anticipation. The merman worried for the kid as everyone else started noticing the anxiousness practically radiating off of the avian.
“Hey, dude,” Tanner called, catching Grunk’s attention. “You good? You’ve been in your room, um, a lot.”
Larry gave him an incredulous look. The bird stayed quiet as Isaac turned down the volume a bit.
“You know we won’t hurt you right?” Tanner reassured, ears flicking. All monsters were hunted but harpies were scarce among monsters, hunted for their wings as they were displayed as trophies within rich human homes.
Grunk shifted, looking between the door and the group in the living room, his friends. They were his friends, would they really sell him out? He could trust them.
Your parents thought they could trust him too. How did that turn out?
But they haven’t sold him out.
Not yet. They could be waiting for your guard to be let down.
No… they wouldn’t.
They would, they would sell you out just like your parents were.
“Grunk?” someone whispered, putting a hand on his shoulder. He flinched away from the touch, the hand reeling back.
“Sorry!” Isaac whispered, Grunk recognizing his voice. He watched as the man scooted away, giving him space.
He could trust them.
Twenty minutes later, Grunk whispered something, the werewolf’s ears both immediately whipping around to face the boy. Isaac, Yumi, and Nick all looked toward the avian, who sat pale-faced as he stared back.
“What,” Larry whispered, ears pinned back against his head.
“It’s nothing,” Grunk snapped. “It’s… fine.”
“Ha, yeah, perfectly fine,” Tanner laughed sarcastically. “Grunk, you can’t drop a bomb like that and say nothing.”
“What? G, are you good?” Yumi questioned, looking at Grunk with a worried expression. Grunk sat in awkward silence as everyone continued to stare at him. He contemplated telling before sighing, crossing his arms and repeated what he said.
“My, uh, my parents were sold out when I was younger.” He stared at his claws, picking at the hem of his shirt. He heard someone inhale sharply as he shifted.
“When?” Nick asked quietly.
“You don’t have to share if ya don’t want G,” Isaac reassured, giving a sharp look toward the vampire. Grunk sighed deeply as he shook his head. He should probably get this off his chest.
“No, it’s fine, if you wanna listen anyway,” he says, eyes averted.
“We’ll listen,” Isaac spoke softly, the others giving hums of agreement.
“Ok well, uh, how do I say this,” the avian started.
***Flashback, Grunk was about 5 or 6***
A young avian jogged down the hall toward the kitchen, holding a stuffed deer as he rounded the corner. He stopped, noticing an unfamiliar person leaning on the counter. No, he knew this person! They were mamas and papas friend but he didn’t know a lot about him, he was scary with the two horns on his head and weird legs.
“So on the 24th?” The tall man questioned, odd feet tapping against the tile. “I know they have a kid, I don’t care. The anklebitter can go into the system or something, dude this is big money for us!”
Jack listened to the conversation, wondering what he meant. Big money? The system? What were those?
“Look I’ll take ‘em out, somewhere secluded then with you and Cal with the tranqs we can… are they here? ARE YOU STUPID? DO YOU THINK I WOULD TALK ABOUT THIS WHILE THEY’RE HERE? I’m watching over their kid, that thing ain’t gonna understand anything plus he ain’t fully grown yet, he’s useless,” the man rambled. “Anyway relax, the buyer is going to pay thousands for ‘em.”
For who? Jack thought as the person cut off the person on the phone, setting it down. The young boy stood there for a moment before making his presence known. The tall person turned their head, noticing him before turning completely.
“Hello kid,” he gritted out. “Were you eavesdropping on our conversation there?”
Jack knew better than to lie to an adult but something was off about what the man was talking about so he shook his head. He held the deer closer as the man huffed, ears twitching.
“You know you shouldn’t listen to conversations that don’t involve you,” the man scolded. “Especially adult ones.”
He ruffled Jack's hair, standing up and heading to the living room. He turned his head to the kid one more time.
“And the deer plush is cute but you’re a big kid now, they don’t have plushies anymore,” he commented, sauntering down the hall, leaving the young boy alone.
Jack didn’t know what was going to happen but something was off about it.
*** a couple days later ***
Jack didn’t understand anything going on as his father held him close. An odd smell filled the car as the boy sobbed to himself. He didn’t know what was happening. The loud sound coming from the car grew louder as the space outside the window rushed by.
Mom and Dad hadn’t come home for a day, leaving Jack alone until his aunt and uncle burst into the house, picking him up as well as some bags with clothing and special objects before rushing him out of the house. He’d been brought to a strange place, his parents both sitting at the back of a truck before immediately rushing up to him.
“Do you know if they followed you?” Mom asked, something odd in her tone. Her entire body shook as she picked up the young boy into her arms.
“No, never, you should be fine once you get to a couple towns over,” his aunt explained quickly, looking around as if something else was there. “I could have never believed he would do that, oh I would rip his-”
“Stop,” his dad snapped, sighing. “I would too but it’s too dangerous to be here, we have to leave now. We’ll be in touch as soon as we get somewhere far from here.”
His aunt and uncle nodded sharply, tears building in their eyes as they ran back to their car. Jack felt himself start to cry as he was passed over to his dad, torso wrapped with something soft as red liquid seeped through the back.
Where were Dad’s wings? Jack thought as the car roared to life. And what happened?
***End flashback***
“I can’t remember anything past that…” the avian trailed off, tears silently streaming down his face. He sniffed, wiping the tears from his face as everyone sat in silence.
Isaac stared at his hands as a feeling of nausea swept over him. Grunk was the youngest of all of them; he had no right to deal with that, neither did his parents. No wonder that kid was nervous around everyone he couldn’t even trust his own kind.
The merman stood up and walked toward the kid, sitting down next to him and holding an arm out for the boy. Grunk leaned on his shoulder, tears continuing to stream down his face.
Larry set down the pillow and strode over to the duo, plopping down right next to Isaac and leaned into his side. Tanner perked up at the sight, jogging over to the trio, flopping over Isaac and Grunks laps.
Yumi watched from beside everyone as he pulled out his phone to take a photo. Isaac felt Grunk shift, becoming more comfortable as his breathing evened out. He smiled to himself as he put an arm around Larry beside him.
They would be just fine.